On Thursday, the US Department of Labor announced thatNumber of people applying for unemployment benefits in the week of January 15. The data shows that the number of people applying for unemployment benefits for the first time reached 286000, compared with 231000 the previous week, a significant increase of 55000, the highest in three months.
United States toOn January 15, the four week average number of people applying for unemployment benefits for the first time recorded 231000, also higher than the previous week's 211000. In addition, the number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits for the week ended January 8 also recorded an increase of 1.635 million, 84000 more than the previous week.
So it seems that the data released this week is not clear as a whole. Some analysts said that the increase in the number of people receiving relief funds was due to the spread of the new strain of Omicron, which may lead to layoffs in the company. In addition, the wave of infection in Omikjon disrupted business activities, which may limit employment growth this month.
According to the data, the recent detection of Omicron in the United States has reached dailyMore than 13 million, and the number of new infections is also increasing dramatically. The United States reports an average of 732245 cases of COVID-19 infection every day.
The increase in the number of initial applicants may mean that employers cut jobs during the recent surge in COVID-19 cases. Even so, due to the current labor shortage, enterprises are eager to retain and attract talents, so the impact of layoffs may be short-lived.
Employers are in urgent need of employees. Last yearThere were 10.6 million vacancies at the end of November. The unemployment rate in the United States was 3.9%, the lowest in 22 months, indicating that the labor market was in or near full employment.
As for the data of initial unemployment benefitsCompared with the figure of more than 6 million in April, the current figure of more than 200000 is relatively small.
Chief global strategist of JPMorgan ChaseDavid Kelly said: "If Omikjon is really the last pandemic, and people's lives will return to normal before March, then economic activities in the second quarter should show a strong rebound. However, if the COVID-19 epidemic continues, the annual leisure and entertainment spending and labor supply may continue to be suppressed."